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Positions Explained
Group positions in Kpop can be confusing so here's a small semi-helpful guide to those positions and a further explanation of EXID's positions in their group. Leader The Leader of the group is the member who takes on "leadership" responsibilities. They are often the ones who have to take responsibility in some way and apologize when one member does something wrong. Leaders have to settle disputes and disagreements between members and they make decisions for the group and keep everyone working hard on their songs and choreography by motivating them. How are Leaders chosen? In some companies they choose the leader based on who's oldest, e.g. SM Entertainment chose Taeyeon as the Leader of SNSD because she was the oldest even though all the members said Sooyoung or Jessica were more leader like. In JYP Entertainment, the leader is chosen based on who has trained in the company the longest, e.g. TWICE's Jihyo is the leader because she spent 10 years in training with JYPE. In YG Entertainment the group members decide on the Leader themselves and there's even a group in YG called Blackpink that has no Leader because the girls all decide things together with equal thinking so it didn't seem right to choose one member as a leader. EXID's Leader is Solji, who is the oldest, but she was also chosen as Leader because she was the group's vocal coach before she joined them. She already had experience teaching them and leading them in that way and they respected her and looked up to her as a teacher already by the time she was added to the group. Vocals There are three vocla positions but don't worry it's really not that confusing once you get it. Members of a group that are the better vocalists or are showcased as vocalists more are members of the Vocal Line. Main Vocalist/Main Vocal The Main Vocalist is generally the best vocalist, however sometimes they're the member who has the voice that best fits the genre. For example, in the group 2NE1, there were two members that could easily be considered better vocalists than the Main Vocal, Bom, but Bom was the Main Vocal because of her unique voice and singing style. Most of the time, though, it's the best singer in the group technically or the one who can hit the high notes and do the adlibs the best. The Main Vocalist of EXID is Solji, this is for various reasons. *she has the best tehcnique when singing in the current lineup of EXID *she debuted as an R&B singer in 2006 so she has an impressive resume as far as how her voice can improve *even though Hyelin's voice is naturally able to be higher than Solji's and Hyelin hits higher notes, Solji carries the adlibs for EXID's songs the best *when ot5/current EXID debuted she was the only member who could hit those notes and hold them at all This is not me saying the other members aren't skilled, just that Solji was and still is the most skilled technically in EXID. Lead Vocalist/Lead Vocal The Lead Vocalist of a group is basically the 2nd tier vocalist. There can be multiple Lead Vocals in a group, in fact, if a group has more than 5 or 6 members there is normally '''one Main Vocal and various Leads but obviously this can depend on the group. In groups with 5 or 6 members and less there is normally one Lead Vocal and one Main Vocal with the other vocals being Subs. In EXID there is one Main, Solji, and there was one lead, Hyelin, until 2018 when Hani was made a lead vocalist as well. Sub Vocalist/Sub Vocal If the Main Vocal is 1st tier, and the Lead is the 2nd tier, the Sub Vocalists are 3rd tier vocalists in the group. Sub is short for supporting so the Sub Vocals are the members who are mainly used to "support" the higher vocals in the group. A common misconception is that #a sub vocal is a bad thing to be #sub vocals can't be on the vocal line or be skilled singers Not being as good as other members isn't a bad thing or an insult, everyone plays their part, and sub vocals are great for singing some highlights as they can have unique and recognizable voices sometimes and for singing highlights and killing parts in some songs. Sub Vocals aren't just the bad singers, they can be good singers and vocalists and in smaller groups with around 5 members, there often is a Sub Vocal on the Vocal Line. In EXID, Hani and Jeonghwa were both considered Sub Vocals but you could always obviously see the difference in the amount of lines they got in older EXID songs, despite them always both being Sub Vocals. This is because Jeonghwa's soft voice was more often better used for small parts in songs and for highlights and Hani's voice is a bit stronger and has a more versatile sound, therefore they were able to have her sing various verses in most of their songs. Hani is the 3rd vocalist of EXID and was a sub vocalist from 2012 until recently in 2018. Hani is also considered a vocal line member by some fans, however, information I've found from EXID's company has only stated the vocal line to be Solji and Hyelin. Jeonghwa is the 4th and last vocal member and she is definitely not considered part of the vocal line. In larger groups the Sub Vocals are not vocal line members as all the Main and Lead Vocals take up the vocal line. The vocal line is just the group of members who's vocals are showcased in the group's songs and in covers. When the group is bigger the good vocalists are more often the Lead and Main and the Sub Vocals are often the dancers and rappers. For example, let's say a group has 9 members, out of those 9 members, 4-5 will be considered the vocal line and those will all be Lead Vocals and Main Vocals. The other 4-5 will be Sub Vocals or not Vocals at all. Overview 1st tier vocalists - Main Vocalists. They're the '''main members who's voices are showcased/used. 2nd tier vocalists - Lead Vocalists. They often "lead" the song by either singing verses or singing the chorus with the Main Vocalist. 3rd tier vocalists - Sub Vocalists. They are used to "support" the other members' vocals by singing highlights or by helping the Lead Vocal by singing verses. In EXID, while a sub vocal Hani most often sang verses while Hyelin and Solji sing the harder parts, higher parts, adlibs, etc. Jeonghwa, who's still a sub vocal, sings a lot of highlight and killing parts or often has that one small line where the song changes just a bit before going back to the original formula. (To better understand what I mean, try looking at EXID's song Up and Down, where Jeonghwa's small lines stand out and are a break from the verses of LE and Hani. This also happens in Hot Pink ) Dancers The dance line is the exact same way almost, but without a Sub. Main Dancers are the most skilled dancers with the most diverse dance skills. Lead Dancers are the 2nd tier dancers who oftentimes aren't the best but are the best or close to the best at doing the group's choreography. They're not as diverse or skilled as the Main Dancers but they can dance well enough inside choreography to be considered dancers. The Dance Line are the members of the group who are showcased as dancers. In EXID there was no official dance line for years, as the only member with an official dance position was Jeonghwa, the Main Dancer. However, with the launch of the group's official website, it was revealed that Hani has been made a Lead Dancer. In EXID, some fans do consider Hyelin an "unofficial dance line member" because of her background in dancing and her skill when it comes to hip hop style dances. This also happens because when Hyelin debuted with the group, she was a dance line member, but after the group went more towards a sexy concept with choreography she was less comfortable with, she was pushed more as a vocalist. Rappers The rappers have the same setup. The Main Rapper is the most skilled rapper, or the one who's style fits the music best. The Lead Rapper is the 2nd tier rapper. Sometimes Lead Rappers are more obviously under the Main Rappers because they get less rap lines or are not shown off as much, but sometimes there are confusions about who is the Main and Lead, like in Blackpink. If there's a Sub Rapper then that's the member who barely raps when compared to the Main and Lead, they might get a rap in every handful of songs, depending on the group. Of course a group with many raps in their songs will have a sub rapper that gets more lines than one in a group which doesn't have as much focus on rap overall in their music. The position in the group depends more on that specific group's dynamic and style than fitting the general "criteria" absolutely perfectly. In EXID, the Main Rapper is LE. She's the Main Rapper not only because her rap skills are good, especially when compared to the other members, but also because she has her own rap style that she's mastered and can use on any type of song. She was also an underground rapper before she joined the group, she taught the famous Hyuna how to rap, and she writes EXID's songs and has featured as a rapper on other artists songs. Jeonghwa debuted as the Lead Rapper but due to her rapping never actually being showcased much after debut except in covers that called for it and a few newer songs many people call her a Sub Rapper. This is incorrect as on the group's official website, which launched in 2018, Jeonghwa is stated to still be the Lead Rapper of EXID. Meaning, the rap line of EXID is LE and Jeonghwa. Visual The Visual of the group is the member who fits general Korean beauty standards the most. They often have innocent looking small faces, big eyes, high nose bridges, and sharp chins. The member with the most of these traits or with the face that fits the "visual style" best is the Visual member. Think of BESTie's Haeryung, SNSD's Yoona (considered Korea's ideal girl, the nation's visual), 2NE1's Dara, Blackpink's Jisoo, S.E.S.'s Eugene (the first visual), AOA's Hyejeong, etc. If you look at their faces and beauty, it's the same kind of beauty. eugene.jpg|S.E.S. Eugene daravisual.jpg|2NE1 Dara (Sandara Park) jisoo.jpg|Blackpink Jisoo yoonavisual.jpg|SNSD Yoona bestiehaeryungvisual.jpg|BESTie Haeryung In EXID, the visual situation is more confusing due to the changes in EXID's styling and lineup. When EXID debuted, the visual was Haeryung, a member that is now a part of BESTie and is no longer an EXID member. The Visual Line (this is similar to Vocal, Dance, and Rap lines. These are the few members who are considered visual members because of their faces but only one is the visual most of the time), at the time was Haeryung and Jeonghwa. After Haeryung left and formed BESTie with the other members who left, most people assumed they were making Jeonghwa the visual, and they did seem to do that until Every Night. When EXID decided to go for a more mature and sexy concept with Every Night, they decided to make Hani the Face of the Group because she was always the member who wanted to be sexy the most. When they promoted Every Night, Jeonghwa was only 17 years old and the song was very sexy with shirts that were see-through or thin and tight. They tried to give Jeonghwa little solo time in this song to keep her from being seen as too sexy but there was still upset among fans because of the way the youngest member was sexualised. Around Every Night or Up and Down is probably when Hani was made to be the Visual. In 2014, the year they promoted Up and Down, Hani was called the Visual of EXID on EXID's own show BUTBUT TV, which they've had since 2012. hnvisual.jpg|Hani hnvis.jpg|Hani DDD Fansign jhvis.jpg|Jeonghwa 2015 jhvisual.jpg|Jeonghwa DDD Fansign To this day, many fans are at odds over who the "real" visual is, but this argument should be put to rest as both members have officially been called "EXID's Visual" multiple times from debut to the present and in 2018 when EXID's official website launched, the members' profiles stated clearly that they share the visual position with one another. Meaning both Jeonghwa and Hani are the visual of EXID. Although it's rare for such a position to be shared by two members, it can happen (like how there are rare groups with two main vocals). Jeonghwa is called the "pure visual" and Hani the "sexy visual", this comes from articles acknowledging Jeonghwa as a person with very pure visuals (an innocent look) and Hani's "sexy" goddess image. Face of The Group The Face of the Group is the member who represents the group and their personalities. The Leader represents the group in a more serious way, they take responsibility if the group messes up and they speak for the group when there are problems, but the Face of the Group is the member who is normally the most popular member. They go on the most variety shows and often do a lot of solo work. The Face of the Group in EXID is Hani, since Every Night-Up and Down era (2012/2013-2014) Category:LEGGO